Interesting article about an open pit copper mine landslide almost two weeks ago.
This mine near Salt Lake City is the largest in the US and produces 17 percent of all US copper. The landslide closed the mine, resulting in a small jump in copper prices. The interesting thing in the article is that this isn't just going to impact copper prices while they get the mine up and running again. It will increase to cost of copper permanently because the landslide was not predicted using current methods. Insurance will pay for this accident, at least in part. But the insurance companies calculated copper mine risk based on old methods. Those old methods said this mine was safe. So either mining has to change, which will be more expensive, or insurers will have to charge more to account for the increase in risk. Or both. Either way, the price of copper is going to go up around the world. Electronics, wires, pipes, fertilizer are all going to take a little hit.
